Program aims to help students, faculty and staff find solutions to rising gas prices

Today, the University of Hawaiʻi announced the re-launch of its online ridesharing program, which was originally implemented during the bus strike to help students, faculty and staff find transportation to the Mānoa campus. The re-launch of the site was prompted by student Daniela Andrade who sent UH President David McClain a letter expressing concern over the cost of commuting to school because of rising gas prices. The site has also been expanded to include all 10 campuses in the university system.

"My congratulations to Daniela for taking the initiative to address a problem that confronts most of our students, and for working with Associate Vice President Karen Lee, Vice President and Chief Information Officer David Lassner and others in the administration to put in place a solution in a timely fashion," said McClain.

The site is accessible to all UH students, faculty and staff through the MyUH portal. A UH username and password are required. Through the site, users become part of a database of potential carpoolers seeking to travel to and from UH campuses. Users select their location, destination and travel times and are able to contact others in the database with similar schedules to see if arrangements can be made to carpool.

"The voluntary program was quite successful during the bus strike in 2003 and we hope that it will once again serve the UH community," said Deborah Noji, assistant director of UH Mānoa Auxiliary Enterprises. "IT specialists Marshal Chu and Chase Kawakami were really instrumental in making this program a reality for students for the upcoming fall semester."

In addition to being able to identify carpool candidates, the site also provides links to other helpful state and city and county resources that promote transportation alternatives.